Alex Galchenyuk Thread 9.0 - #Goldchenyuk Edition

It seems that Leblanc's ankle injury is still bugging him. It is reminiscent of Lapierre during his last season with us; Lapierre tried to play through his ankle injury but he was not able to give his 100%.

We need Nokelainen right handed faceoff skill imo and White deserves a spot ahead of Armstrong. So I see Armstrong as this team #13 F.

Palushaj's days in Montreal are counted imo: he never stepped his game up when he had his chances. Maybe I am wrong tho: he did show glimpse of urgency during some presences.

Sadly you are probably right about Gomez... he needs to play. Sadly is the key word here!

Even if he's lights out in camp, he's gotta be lights out in his 9-game stint as far as I'm concerned to stay with the club. If he's just okay (3 or 4 points), he'll probably still be sent back.

True dat. Not sure if I even want him to be that good early on. Wouldn't be sure if it was skill or adrenaline and fact he's played so much at this point against what will surely be a lot of rusty NHLers.

True dat. Not sure if I even want him to be that good early on. Wouldn't be sure if it was skill or adrenaline and fact he's played so much at this point against what will surely be a lot of rusty NHLers.

Yeah exactly. That's the best part of about our club is all of our centers (even Gomez who will probably trick us early lol) have been playing a lot of hockey. Very good thing to have your center not be rusty.

Personally, unless he's got 7-9 points (and not all in the first few games) and is playing a big part in our VICTORIES, then I send him down, no question. He has to be playing really well and we have to be winning for me to want him to stay up.

Yeah exactly. That's the best part of about our club is all of our centers (even Gomez who will probably trick us early lol) have been playing a lot of hockey. Very good thing to have your center not be rusty.

Personally, unless he's got 7-9 points (and not all in the first few games) and is playing a big part in our VICTORIES, then I send him down, no question. He has to be playing really well and we have to be winning for me to want him to stay up.

7-9 pts? Big part of victories..

Thats asking A LOT!

I would say if he just goes improving each game he will get a taste.. even if he only has let say 4 points in 9 games.. people underestimate the level of skill he has.. if Bergevin think he was skilled/motivated/healthy enough to be no 3. That says a lot. He will have a realistic chance to make it... the comments from Bergevin and Therrien says a lot.. if he would have no real chance the comments would be a lot less generous to manage the hype.

I'm okay with 9 games so he gets a taste of the speed and strength needed to succeed at the NHL. But no way in hell should we bring him up for the whole season. Mtl fans are just too harsh - we would kill the kid's confidence within a year. Let's groom him slow and steady with lots of time in Juniors and on the farm (similar to how the Sens handled Spezza after screwing it up with Daigle)

He'll be gold in 2-3 years

Ottawa never groomed Spezza slowly. He started with Ottawa in his first year of eligibility in October of 2002. He played yo-yo between Ottawa and Binghampton (sent down 5 times during the season) mainly because he was having issues (read arguments) with coach Martin over his defensive play and because the Senators were a contender for the cup that year + were stacked at center with Radek Bonk, Todd White (60 points that year) and Mike Fisher. They did not want Spezza to play center on the fourth line or demote Fisher to the 3rd line. The 80 games he played in the minors two years later was because of the NHL strike, not for grooming purposes.

With Galchenyuck, he has just one and half year's worth of Junior hockey under his belt because of an injury that saw him play almost no games in his second year in Sarnia. So Galchenyuck may need to complete his year in the Juniors.

As for those saying that he should finish this year in Sarnia and then spend a year or two with the Bulldogs before he plays in Montreal... well... that's just plain brain dead. Galchenyuck is a top first round pick under contract for three years in Montreal. So, according to these knowledgeable fans who truly understand the value of "paying your dues in the minors" and not waste a young talented player by bringing him up too soon, you would have Galchenyuck play most if not all of his contract with Montreal in the juniors and minors, then lose him to another team when his contract his due. Nice waste of a top pick.

Top three picks in NHL always start in NHL the minute they are eligible to play. Only exception are :

1. When the top pick is a defenseman or a goalie (they can take longer to be ready for the NHL because they need to gain size and experience at that position)
2. When the team is a top contender for the cup and/or no holes in the roster is available for the rookie that year.

Galchenyuk still produced 8 pts despite not being in an ideal situation to do so. There are more positives than negatives from his performance in the wjc.

Remember people, he's a puck possession player, it's normal if he couldn't do much while he was chasing the puck most of the time. Mostly because his line mates couldn't keep possession of it.

I don't think I'd use the WJC to rationalize things either way at this point. His linemates weren't a great fit. But he's really a very high profile super-prospect relative to some of the other guys in the tourney, and he didn't do a lot on his own either. I would say write off the WJC as insufficient data, it all comes down to how he looks with NHLers (even rusty post-lockout ones) in the mini-camp. There really is no other basis for making the call. Well, unless it's one that isn't based on on-ice performance, like preservation of contract years, fears of bonus cushion rollovers, or conversely just the desire to get him into the NHL now and get on with his sanctification as our next saviour for PR purposes, etc. All of which would be valid. But if it's just stuff based on the ice, throw away Sarnia, throw away the WJC, see how he looks in the mini camp and any allowed early-season cameos.

I don't think I'd use the WJC to rationalize things either way at this point. His linemates weren't a great fit. But he's really a very high profile super-prospect relative to some of the other guys in the tourney, and he didn't do a lot on his own either. I would say write off the WJC as insufficient data, it all comes down to how he looks with NHLers (even rusty post-lockout ones) in the mini-camp. There really is no other basis for making the call. Well, unless it's one that isn't based on on-ice performance, like preservation of contract years, fears of bonus cushion rollovers, or conversely just the desire to get him into the NHL now and get on with his sanctification as our next saviour for PR purposes, etc. All of which would be valid. But if it's just stuff based on the ice, throw away Sarnia, throw away the WJC, see how he looks in the mini camp and any allowed early-season cameos.

Dunno, I watched all his games that were on TSN, but only really focused on him in the last one, and thought he really didn't do much on his own. Really thought Kuraly was crap, though. But still. Nice 1st goal, that was sweet, but not a lot else. If you told me that guy was a 3rd overall NHL pick, I'd have said "no freakin' way". Same for a few other high picks, though. Conversely lots of lower picks looked great. It's just a short stretch of games. I'd throw it out. Obviously he has a bigger resume than just that, and obviously he's coming to camp, and let's just see how that goes, maybe + 9 regular season games if that's allowed too, forgetabouttheWJC.

I don't think I'd use the WJC to rationalize things either way at this point. His linemates weren't a great fit. But he's really a very high profile super-prospect relative to some of the other guys in the tourney, and he didn't do a lot on his own either. I would say write off the WJC as insufficient data, it all comes down to how he looks with NHLers (even rusty post-lockout ones) in the mini-camp. There really is no other basis for making the call. Well, unless it's one that isn't based on on-ice performance, like preservation of contract years, fears of bonus cushion rollovers, or conversely just the desire to get him into the NHL now and get on with his sanctification as our next saviour for PR purposes, etc. All of which would be valid. But if it's just stuff based on the ice, throw away Sarnia, throw away the WJC, see how he looks in the mini camp and any allowed early-season cameos.

Hmm, I'm not sure I believe that you really think that last reason would be valid. As bad as the Habs might be, are they lacking in PR starpower, with Subban and Price on the team? Would that be a fair position to throw Gally into? And isn't recent precedent for that kind of reasoning (Latendresse) a cautionary tale?

Dunno, I watched all his games that were on TSN, but only really focused on him in the last one, and thought he really didn't do much on his own. Really thought Kuraly was crap, though. But still. Nice 1st goal, that was sweet, but not a lot else. If you told me that guy was a 3rd overall NHL pick, I'd have said "no freakin' way". Same for a few other high picks, though. Conversely lots of lower picks looked great. It's just a short stretch of games. I'd throw it out. Obviously he has a bigger resume than just that, and obviously he's coming to camp, and let's just see how that goes, maybe + 9 regular season games if that's allowed too, forgetabouttheWJC.

Yeah I don' think that the WJC dictates wether a player or not will be a good NHLer. But I don't agree when people judge Galchenyuk's WJC as they would be judging his play in Sarnia. He didn't have the same amount of ice time, the same role or the same quality of players on his line, but he still was able to produce like he was on a top line. And not only his points, but the offense he generated on very limited chances to do so.

I was more impressed than not with his performance at the WJC. But I know the NHL is another thing and he'll be in much different circustances.

Hmm, I'm not sure I believe that you really think that last reason would be valid. As bad as the Habs might be, are they lacking in PR starpower, with Subban and Price on the team? Would that be a fair position to throw Gally into? And isn't recent precedent for that kind of reasoning (Latendresse) a cautionary tale?

I thought Latendresse basically earned his junior aged roster spot (arguable, but at least he showed he was capable and one of the final candidates, a "fair pick" for the spot). And he had nothing like a #3 overall profile to milk PR from. Not that I quite really mean it'd be "just PR" on Galchenyuk, more like a combination of that, plus "getting his feet wet", getting him into the NHL culture, all that good stuff that isn't really based purely on him earning it, but nevertheless could be argued to have benefit to his overall development as the Habs' future star player. I don't see how it'd be "unfair" either, I'm sure Galchenyuk would love to be in the NHL, regardless of the reasons. I think it'd be a valid reason to keep him around in this kind of mini-season scenario, anyway. Not so much if this was October. But it's January, and will be closer to February when they start, so no harm.

I don't really believe in doing that and wouldn't choose it personally, but I also wouldn't object to it or blame the Habs for going that way. It probably won't be visible to us anyway, I don't see an exhibition season in the works, we'll have no insight into whether he "earned it" or not. Not until the games start going anyway. By which point, it may still not even be clear or easy to figure out.

I thought Latendresse basically earned his junior aged roster spot (arguable, but at least he showed he was capable and one of the final candidates, a "fair pick" for the spot). And he had nothing like a #3 overall profile to milk PR from. Not that I quite really mean it'd be "just PR" on Galchenyuk, more like a combination of that, plus "getting his feet wet", getting him into the NHL culture, all that good stuff that isn't really based purely on him earning it, but nevertheless could be argued to have benefit to his overall development as the Habs' future star player. I don't see how it'd be "unfair" either, I'm sure Galchenyuk would love to be in the NHL, regardless of the reasons. I think it'd be a valid reason to keep him around in this kind of mini-season scenario, anyway. Not so much if this was October. But it's January, and will be closer to February when they start, so no harm.

I don't really believe in doing that and wouldn't choose it personally, but I also wouldn't object to it or blame the Habs for going that way. It probably won't be visible to us anyway, I don't see an exhibition season in the works, we'll have no insight into whether he "earned it" or not. Not until the games start going anyway. By which point, it may still not even be clear or easy to figure out.

Yeah, you're right that I oversimplified the Latendresse situation, he did play really well that preseason.

I think that some of the points you made could be separated from PR. I just don't like the idea of salesmanship getting in the way of team quality. IMO that's a major advantage the Canadiens should be taking advantage of, that they don't need to feel pressure to sell the team with saviours like the Blue Jackets or the Thrashers did. Win three games in a row, and the city won't care about the team's best prospect spending some more time on the farm.

I read hundreds of posts about Galchenyuk over the course of the WJC. I got to thinking. Here is a kid who missed an entire year of development at a critical age, yet he still made the Team USA squad. He is behind in development by a year. He is going to be a Hab soon. I think he gets a few NHL games this season, Hab Fans need a bone thrown their way!

I read hundreds of posts about Galchenyuk over the course of the WJC. I got to thinking. Here is a kid who missed an entire year of development at a critical age, yet he still made the Team USA squad. He is behind in development by a year. He is going to be a Hab soon. I think he gets a few NHL games this season, Hab Fans need a bone thrown their way!

I dont think its about the fans, its about galchenyuk best recipe for sucess..

The lockout and our crap season last year both play in favor of Galchenyuk getting his 9 games tryout, if only that.

Habs finished in the basement last year and the already annoyed fan base got made to wait over an hundred days after expected start date to see hockey again. If you want to throw the folks a bone, Galchenyuk is in the lineup and the people will be, at least, happy to see him and live the hype a little.

Now, unless he REALLY belongs (Say, 0.5 PPG + in 9 games at age 18 playing bottom 6 minutes + PP... looks improbable at this point) you send him back to Sarnia afterwards.

So remember all those years when we were saying "if only Kovalev worked hard, he could have been an elite player in the NHL..."?...well, I think with Galchenyuk's skill, vision and work ethic** we are going to see what Kovalev could have been. It may not be this year, but that's ok.

So remember all those years when we were saying "if only Kovalev worked hard, he could have been an elite player in the NHL..."?...well, I think with Galchenyuk's skill, vision and work ethic** we are going to see what Kovalev could have been. It may not be this year, but that's ok.

Maybe... However, Kovalev is probably one of the top talents to ever play hockey. He was ridiculously skilled.